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Sainz takes his first drive in a Williams
Carlos Sainz has driven for Williams for the first time as part of a filming day at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The Spaniard is joining Williams in 2025 but has been released by Ferrari to take part in the Pirelli tire test for his new team this week, with the test itself taking place on Tuesday following this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
However, to get Sainz more comfortable in the car and to check his seat fit and pedal position, Williams has been able to make use of a filming day it had yet to complete in order for him to drive on Monday.
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Within 24 hours of finishing second for Ferrari in the final race of the season, Sainz was on track in the FW46 on demonstration Pirelli tires. Wearing a plain white helmet but carrying his normal race number of 55, Sainz completed a number of laps late in the afternoon at the Yas Marina Circuit, including a practice start as he familiarized himself with Williams procedures.
Sainz will be one of a number of race drivers testing for their 2025 teams on Tuesday, with Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Esteban Ocon at Haas, Jack Doohan at Alpine and Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto at Stake.
Williams also announced a new sponsor on Monday, with Spanish-based banking giant Santander continuing to back Sainz as he makes the move from Ferrari.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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